ALEXANDER’S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 9 
how damp the cellar is, providing you have a good mat on top of every 
hive; or a good piece of heavy duck will answer if you have not the 
mats, and then raise them about an inch off the bottom-boards all 
around. 
Don’t take them out in the spring until there is something for them 
to work on. We have noticed for several years that the first colonies 
we put into the cellar are the last to be taken out, and they are our 
best colonies nearly all summer. Heretofore there has been about ten 
days’ difference in the time of putting in the first and the last, and about 
the same length of time in taking them out. Now we have a new cellar 
in our bee-yard so handy that two men can put away nearly 800 colonies 
in a day, and disturb them but very little. 
In regard to this wintering problem, in order to be successful there 
are a few things that must work in harmony together. First, good 
stores; total darkness; perfect quiet, and an even temperature of about 
45. If any of these are lacking it may be necessary to give them a 
chance to fly earlier than we otherwise should, in order to save them 
from wasting away badly in the cellar; then when spring comes, do all 
you can to keep them warm and promote early breeding. 
At this time they require man’s help more than at any other time 
of the year; and if you expect to be successful, there must be no let-up 
until every hive is crowded full of bees and maturing brood. Yes, I 
mean all that that implies, and a great deal more; for you should now 
have a fine lot of young queens ready to make whatever increase you 
may desire; but if you do not understand rearing good queens then 
you had better buy what you need from some party that can be relied 
on to furnish you good stock. 
DON’T BARREL HONEY DIRECT FROM THE EXTRACTOR. 
Now as to barreling up extracted honey, as some advise, right from 
the extractor. This is something I can not endorse. If one is very 
careful it might do; but with some careless honey-producers it is liable 
to do much harm. Even if of good quality when extracted there will be 
a little scum rising to the top after a few days. This, if left in the 
barrels, gives it a bad appearance, and many times hurts its sale. Then 
if there should be a little thin honey in the barrel this will also rise to 
the top and have a tendency to ferment. Here is one of the reasons 
why we have always used large storage-tanks. With them, whatever 
rises to the top can easily be skimmed off; and in drawing off from the 
bottom of our tanks we get only the thick pure honey of the finest 
quality. We are sure that, in giving this part of the business special at- 
tention, as we do, it has much bearing on the ready sale we find for all 
we can produce. If you expect to make bee-keeping a success, you must 
look close to all these things. Don’t be afraid to give a dollar’s worth 
of good honey for every dollar you receive from a customer; for if you 
are, your customers will soon find it out. 
